Shake It Out
by LadySerenitty
Summary: "It's hard to dance with the devil on your back..." Ever since Moose and Camille had to go on their seperate ways in order to follow their dreams, the curly haired boy has not been the same anymore. Now settled in Vegas with the Lmntrix crew, Moose feels as if he will never manage to fight his demons and dance freely again. But that is only until a new girl arrives in town...
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Before you guys can start to read this story, I just wanted to say a few things. Firstly, this first chapter is being posted as an experience, to see how the story will be accepted and, based upon the feedback I get, then I'll decide if I continue it or not. Secondly, I don't want you guys to ever think that I don't like Moose and Camille together. They are the cutest couple ever, but this story was just an idea that popped up in my mind and I just had to write it. So, please, give it a chance before judging it. I promise I'll try to make this as enjoyable as possible for you guys! So, without anymore delay, here's the story. Hope you guys like it and, if you do, leave me a review telling me what you think. Just be polite and I'll love to read what you guys think of my story ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Even though it was right at the middle of the night, Las Vegas never stopped bubbling with life. The lights shone bright as the sun, covering the buildings in a beautiful multi-colored glow, and the sounds from the city were as strong as ever. Moose stood at the roof of the luxurious hotel he and the Lmntrix crew had been living for the past year, watching the city as the hours passed by. He was having another one of his frequent sleepless nights, when he would lie down in bed and simply stare at the ceiling for hours on end, until his mind would lose its patience and force him to do something. This has been happening ever since he moved in to Las Vegas. Nights would always be a torture to him as the only thing in his mind would be a simple thought: Camille.

For the past six years, he and his best friend in the whole wide world had experienced the joys of life as a lovely couple. They had lived together on a nice apartment in L.A. and things were as good as they have ever been for both of them. But that was only until life decided to get in the way. Not that their break up had been traumatic or destructive in any way. They were still best friends as they have always been. The only difference was that, this time, they both had to follow different paths in order to live their dreams. Camille moved out to Haiti to help children in need of medical care and Moose was now living in Las Vegas, fulfilling the dream of dedicating all his time to dance. Their lives turned into a completely opposite direction, and even though they loved each other very much, sometimes sacrifices must be made in order to follow your dreams. And that's what they decided to do.

But even though Moose and Camille ended their relationship in good terms, sometimes he still caught himself wondering if he made the right choice by letting her go. Of course it was her dream to take care of people and actually make a difference in their lives, but… He just missed her so much. However, even though his heart ached for the absence, he knew deep down that what they did was for the best. All he ever wanted in this world was to see Camille happy. Even if that meant sacrificing part of his own happiness.

As if sensing that his friend was in need of a helping hand, Sean suddenly walked into the roof and leaned down on the short wall beside Moose.

"Can't sleep?" He asked with a weak smile, watching as the city moved around them.

"Yeah…" Moose simply replied, not really meeting his friend's gaze.

They stayed silent for a few moments, just gathering their thoughts about that situation. Sean knew better than anyone how Moose must've been feeling on that moment. He's already been there. And he really hated to see his friend, who was always the heart and soul of the group, feeling so down and miserable.

"I know how you're feeling, man." He started carefully, measuring his words so he wouldn't make things even worse. "Letting go is a hell of a hard thing!"

"Yeah, tell me about it!" Moose replied with a humorless chuckle. "It's crazy how this kind of stuff happens, right?"

It was amazing how, even though anyone could see the hurt in his eyes, Moose could always face everything with a smile on his face. Sean envied his friend for this. Sometimes, he truly wished he could be like that, and always see the good side of everything. But, unfortunately, he wasn't that lighthearted. That was something exclusive of Moose. And, man, how that boy was lucky.

"I know. Life has this kind of crap." He answered with a grimace. "Do you ever regret it?"

"No, man. What we did was for the best. I couldn't just come here to Las Vegas and live my dream while she just stood on her boring daily job, wishing to have something greater. I wouldn't be that selfish." Moose said with a sad smile on his face. Sean knew that he was right.

"Yeah... But you have to try and move on, man. You can't go on grieving like that! At this pace, you're gonna get yourself sick. And I really cannot afford to lose my best dancer, now!" Sean said with a serious, yet caring tone to his voice.

Moose let out a chuckle that actually sounded honest, this time. He knew how much Sean was right. But it wasn't that easy. He and Camille had known each other for their whole life. It was hard to let go of something like that. And, even though they were still best friends, things just weren't the same anymore. He was here and she was there. It wasn't easy to move on.

"Yeah, guess I'll try, man. But I can't promise anything right now."

"Just open your eyes, dude. Who knows what you might see!" Sean replied with a smile, patting his friend on the back before backing away from the short wall.

Moose watched for a second as Sean walked away. He thought about what he said for a second, wondering of he could actually ever do that. But after a few minutes of thinking, he finally came to the conclusion that it would be really hard to see anything. At least, that's what it seemed on that moment.

…

The next morning, everyone gathered up on the rehearsal space to warm up and go over the choreography for that night's show. Having a show at a big hotel in Las Vegas was not an easy task. The public in the city was always extremely demanding and didn't just pay to see anything that was thrown at them. To please a crowd in Vegas, an artist had to do something big, something that would blow people's minds out of their heads and leave them begging for more at the end. Getting the show was the easy part. Hard was keeping it together.

"Alright guys, let's do it again from the beginning!" Sean ordered after the fifth time they went through the choreography.

Moose could hear sighs and grunts of complaint all around him as the dancers grew tired of doing the same thing over and over again. He honestly didn't mind it that much. Dancing was like breathing to him. People don't get tired of breathing. So he didn't get tired of dancing. Also, the exercise helped to keep his mind busy, away from any thoughts that could bring him down or damage his focus. He really didn't like to have his mood ruined by that kind of stuff. He liked to be cheerful and have fun despite anything that might be happening around him. He always thought that feeling sad was a complete waste of time. But sometimes, that was something he simply could not control. So he always made sure to keep himself as busy as possible to keep away any unwanted thoughts or feelings.

"Come on, Sean, don't you think we've had enough for today?" Andie complained to her boyfriend, wearing a pretty annoyed expression on her face.

"We gotta be perfect tonight, Andie. You know how every single show is important for our contract. We can't afford _any_ mistakes!" Sean replied with that authoritary tone everyone was so used to hearing.

"Yeah, we gotta be perfect, but I don't see how draining everyone to their last bit of strenght will help out in anything!"

Moose watched as they argued like kids fighting for the last piece of candy and couldn't help but smile. He really liked to watch as Sean and Andie's relationship developed because, even though they were the completely opposite of each other, they still somehow managed to work. The crew would never be the same without them. And even though it could get rather tiresome at times, was glad to have them in the group.

After a couple of minutes of argument, Sean finally gave up and allowed everyone to take a break. Once again, sighs and grunts could be heard all around in the studio, but this time they were of relief. Moose had to admit that he also felt haopy that he wouldn't have to go through that choreography all over again. Sean had given him quite a big part, so he always ended the rehearsal a lot more tired than the others. But, once again, that was good because he really liked to be in the spotlight sometimes. It was just part of who he was. And being himself was something that he did better than anyome. That's for sure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

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As the time of the performance approached, a feeling of anxiety began to take over the Lmntrix crew. This happened every time the group had to present a new routine, as this meant that all eyes would be on them. Including their boss' ones. They had already been told by everyone in charge of the hotel that their remaining on that place would depend solely and completely on their performance as a group. And if they, somehow, ever failed to entertain the guests, they would be immediately replaced by another group. Of course no one wanted that, so the pressure of being absolutely perfect was on with every show they performed.

Moose stood on a quiet corner behind the stage, listening to the music before the show started. He always liked to take some moments before any performance to concentrate and feel the music, so he would be sure to give his everything when the time arrived. He definitely wasn't the kind of person who would do something just because and be satisfied with it. If he had to do it, then he would give 110% of himself. That's how life rolled for him.

"Ready for the show?" Andie leaned down on the wall beside Moose, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Geez Andie, don't sneak up on me like that!" Moose complained in his light-hearted manner of always, putting an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I could have attacked you, girl! You know, like a ninja!"

"Of course, because you're totally fit to be a Ninja!" Andie provoked him back, pinching the side of his body just to prove her point.

"Hey, easy! Don't hurt my beautiful body like you just did with my feelings!" Moose replied, looking at her as if what she had actually offended him to the core.

"Alright, whatever! Just make sure this "beautiful body" of yours can handle some beautiful moves tonight aswell!"

"And when was that I couldn't?"

Andie simply rolled her eyes at her friend's absurdly inflated ego and muzzled his perfectly curly hair, receiving another complaint as a response. Moose laughed as he watched Andie walk away, feeling slightly nostalgic of the time he first met her at MSA. Everything used to be so much easier at that time. When they were young, no one had to worry about work, bills or money. They only thing they had to do was live, and anything besides that was just not important. Sometimes, Moose wished he could go back to that time… But, of course, that was impossible. He was an adult now and, even though he hated to admit it, it was time for him to start acting as such.

 _Man, I'm starting to sound like my father!_

He chuckled at that thought, realizing just how absurd that truly sounded. Taking his earphones back, he decided it was best to go back to his music. At least that would keep him away from any of those weird, nostalgic thoughts. He stayed like that for quite a few moments, until a pat on his shoulders brought him back to reality. Moose looked up to meet Sean, who was staring at him with a pretty serious expression. That happened every single day as the time to perform arrived, so Moose immediately put his phones away and started to get ready for the show. He didn't need much to be ready, really. All he needed was his cap and his beautiful self. I mean, come on, who would need any more than that?

As they all stood on their places listening to the last words of the show's host, the lights slowly started to go down until everything was drowned in absolute darkness. And that's when they knew it was time to put that place down.

The music started quietly, with nothing but a few beats to fill in the silence. One by one the stage lights started to turn on, dimly illuminating the stage as the fog came on. The girls were the very first ones to come in. They were all dressed in plain red outfits, each one with a different style but all still matching. They started to dance around each other as a low melody came in through the beats, leaving the whole place with a misterious yet seductive atmosphere.

They stayed like that for a few seconds until the beat suddenly dropped into a strong tango tune, completely changing the atmosphere as the boys walked onstage. Each boy picked one girl and started to lead them around the stage, creating some kind of passive-agressive, battle feeling to their dance. The boys circled the girls like predators and the ladies kept defying them as if to test what their limits would be. The performance remained like that for a few moments, yanking exclamations from the public as they watched that beautiful display of passion and intensity. But that was until the tango suddenly stopped, giving its place to a loud and eletronic sound that was so typical of the Lmntrix style of dancing.

Upon that harsh cue, the whole group disperced to give space for the amazing Santiago Twins, whose syncronization skills were so amazing that it made impossible for anyone to keep their jaws in place as they performed. The Twins danced to the beat in flawless unison, moving around so fast that it was pactically impossible to tell which one was who. When their part was over, they also moved away to open space for the master of all robots, Vlad, whose moves were so perfectly stiff and intricate, that one who didn't know him might think he was a real robot.

As Vlad finished showing off his amazing robot skills, the whole group joined the performance again, thinking and breathing as a unit while they danced to the explosive, electronic beat. The crowd was alreadu going wild when suddenly the music stopped and everything went completely dark again. A deadly silence took over the place as the public waited with aprehension for something to happen. A few seconds were spent like that, and when the crowd was already starting to think that something was wrong with the show, a small glimpse of light suddenly appeared on the middle of the stage. People took a few moments to see what that little light spot was, and when they finally realized it was the outline of a cap, the excitement level grew high above the clouds.

Little by little, the lights from the cap started to go down into the figure, first revealing a shirt, then a jacket, then the pants, and lastly a pair of glowing led sneakers, that stumped down on the floor as the beat slowly came back to life.

As the music reached the ears of the public once again, that mysterious illuminated silhouette suddenly began to move around the stage. With strong and confident steps, he danced to the music with incredible skill and originality. Influences such as Michael Jackson could be clearly noticed on the dancer's style, even though he was still able to do it with an unbelievable amount of personality. As he danced around to the beat of the music, not a single person on the audience could take their eyes off him. The movement of his body combined with the brightness of the lights caused a hypnotizing feeling on anyone who watched Moose dancing. Even his own partners from the crew.

As the music came into a climax, suddenly a whole bunch of lights appeared onstage, outlining the figure of every dancer on the group as they joined their friend to finish that performance on the greatest way someone could ever think about. They all started out in unison, making perfectly intricate movements that soon broke into a canon of light and dancers that made the crowd to explode in applause once the performance was over. The Lmntrix crew walked to the front of the stage and joined hands to take their final bow as the public applauded and cheered. Apparently, another perfect day of performance had just been accomplished. And for that, they couldn't be happier.

"Give it up for the Lmntrix crew, everyone!" The host screamed, making the crowd go absolutely wild as the group took one last bow.

The show had been a complete success. Moose was bursting out with happiness because his lighting model for the clothes worked without a problem. That was definitely a win for the group. After celebrating backstage for a few moments, the Lmntrix crew was just getting ready to disperse when suddenly the sound of the host's voice boomed on their ears once again.

 _What else could he still have to say?_ Moose wondered.

Moved by his unquestionable curiosity, he walked back towards the stage, standing behind the wings to get a good view of the stage. The host was still standing right on the same place with his microphone in hand, and the crowd hadn't moved from their places. That was strange. The show was over, wasn't it? Moose was just starting to ask himself what the heck was going on, the host finally spoke again. And what he said made his jaw drop.

" _And now, for the final performance of this evening, ladies and gentleman, I present you our brand new performer: Serenity!"_

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 **Alright, there you have it! The second chapter of my quite "polemic" story, haha! I was rather surprised by the quick feedback from you guys! As I already expected when I decided to post this, the idea of having Moose and Camille separated was not really well accepted. About that, I just wanna say that I totally understand you guys, because I also don't ever want to see this adorable couple separated! But, as I have previously said, this is just a story. It was an idea that came into my mind and that I had to write it exactly the way I imagined; otherwise it just wouldn't make any sense. However, since the storyline itself doesn't seem very appealing for you to read it, I decided to turn this into something a little bigger. This story will have an important message delivered through it, something that someone said to me and it got me thinking quite a lot. I won't say anything about it for now, but I promise that if you keep reading it with me, I'll make sure to have you take something good from this. Thank you so much for the people who read and reviewed despite everything, you guys are absolutely awesome! It'll mean the world to me if you can still keep doing this, reading your comments just make me really happy, even if you have some constructive criticism to do. Alright, hope you guys like this and I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye ^-^**

 **Obs: Tell me what song did you guys think about on the dance scene! I didn't really have any specific ones in mind, haha! And no, I'm not creative with names at all, sorry.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

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When the host announced the name of the "new attraction", Moose was left completely speechless. He thought that the Lmntrix crew would be the only attraction of the hotel until their contract was over. No one said anything about a new dancer. He just hoped that this wouldn't bring any bad consequences to him and his crew.

Moose stayed at the wings, watching anxiously as the lights went out and the performance came to a start. At first, nothing really happened. The stage just remained in complete darkness and silence for a few moments, leaving everyone in expectation. And then, something finally happened. A single canon of light lit up the very center of the stage, and then, the beautiful silhouette of a girl walked up on stage. She was carrying a wooden chair behind her and her face was half covered by a delicate, black eye mask made of lace. Moose analyzed her for a moment to try and take in all of her features. She was wearing a flowing light blue dress that went down right above her knees and her feet were bare. She was really beautiful, he couldn't deny. But the characteristic that probably caught his attention the most was the long, black and curly hair that went all the way down to her waist. That was something he didn't see very often.

The girl placed the chair in the middle of the stage and took her place on it, right beneath the strong cannon of light and, after a brief pause for the dancer to prepare, the music finally began. Moose recognized the song right away, since it was pretty famous, and that made him rather excited to watch what that girl had to show. She started with slow and steady steps, following the rhythm of the song as it played quietly. Her movements were light, soft and flowing as a feather and, even though most of the times she barely seemed to be touching the floor, she was still able to hold and incredible amount of strength in her dance. She moved around the stage with grace and sensuality, using the chair as a dancing prop, which made the performance even more appealing to the public.

Moose had to admit that he was really impressed by the girl's ability in dancing. He could see by far that she had classical training in dance, probably ballet. That was also something he didn't see quite often, because most of his dancer friends were born from the streets. Which didn't diminish them in any way at all, but it was still nice for him to also meet a different kind of dancer. Even though he recalled having seen a lot of them back at the MSA. However, even though he could see the obvious influence of classical dancing in that girl's moves, he could still tell that she had something different. She really seemed to dance with her heart. Like nothing in the world mattered as long as her body was moving to the melody. Almost a little like him, in fact.

The public was in complete rapture as they watched that girl dance. Her passion and energy on the stage was completely hypnotizing to the people who were watching. And the second that she took on her final pose, the crowd just raged with applause. Even Moose didn't hesitate in applauding the girl. He knew now that her presence at the hotel was a probable threat for him and his crew, but he couldn't just ignore that fact that she was an amazing dancer. He thought that she deserved that merit. As Moose watched the girl take her last bow to the public, a tap on his shoulders made him jump out of his stupor.

"Close your mouth, dancing boy, or flies might come in!" Sean teased him, as he was caught watching the girl quite intently.

"Hey, I don't know what you're talking about man!" Moose replied with a quirky laugh, trying to avoid the face that he was actually staring at the girl.

"Yeah, right. I might have believed you if I hadn't seen that stupid look you had in your face while staring at the girl dancing!" He said with a teasing laugh, muzzling his friend's hair just to annoy him a little bit more.

Laughing mockingly at his friend, Moose turned back towards the stage just to find that the girl was already gone. He had to admit that he felt a little disappointed at this. After such an amazing performance, he was really curious to at least know the real name of that girl who danced so beautifully on that stage. But apparently, that would have to wait. Tonight, he had a celebration to make.

To celebrate the utter success of their new number, the whole Lmntrix crew went out to dinner at a pretty nice restaurant placed just across the street from the hotel. The place was pretty fancy, even though it was still a dance club, but that wasn't going to stop the crew from having fun. They all had dinner, talked and laughed for at least two hours, having the best of time they could all ever dream of. Even though the life in Vegas had its pressures and expectations, everyone there was extremely happy to be given that opportunity. Living for dance was something they have always dreamt of. And no matter how crazy and difficult life could become for them, it was always worth it at the end.

…

It was pretty late at night when the crew got back to the hotel. The group was so tired after the show, that upon reaching the elevators, everyone went straight back to their rooms. Well, everyone except for Moose. He wasn't really feeling sleepy, so he decided to roam through the hallways and walk up to the roof. He had just reached the rehearsal floor when suddenly he heard music coming from one of the studios.

" _That is odd…"_ He thought, considering that it was already 3 A.M.

Driven once again by his uncontrollable curiosity, he started to search for the studio where the music was coming from. After looking for a couple of moments, he finally found the source of the sound. The music was coming from one of the studios at the very end of the corridor and, upon looking closer, he saw that the door was just slightly open. Peaking at the small gap from which the sound was coming from, he could see that someone was inside, dancing by itself. Any normal person at that moment would realize that the person inside probably wanted to be alone and would leave right away. But Moose wasn't just any normal person, was he?

Opening the door as silently as he could, Moose sneaked into the studio and surprised himself to see that the person dancing inside was actually the girl he watched dancing earlier. He tried his best to stay out of sight so the girl wouldn't see him. But judging by the way that she was dancing, Moose found difficult that she might see anything at all. She seemed absolutely engrossed by the music, dancing her heart out as if no one was watching. Well, actually, no one was actually meant to be watching. But Moose was just so curious about this girl, that he couldn't force himself to lose that opportunity.

He watched carefuly as she spun around in perfect pirouettes and even repressed a small exclamation when she did a perfect front aerial right before his eyes. She was dancing a lot more classically at that moment than she did earlier on the stage. Her steps were a lot more calculated and her attention was a lot more strict. It was very different from the routine she presented on show that night. But it was still beautiful in its own way.

She danced for a few more minutes until the music finally started to end. Moose tried to sneak back into the corridor as she finished her last movements, but his clumsy self wouldn't make things so easy. When he was almost reaching the door, a bad footing made a pair of shoes slip down from its hanger and fall loudly on the floor. And of course that with such a loud announcement, the girl turned around to become face to face with Moose.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean to intrude!" Moose apologized right away, raising both hands beside his head as if to prove his innocence.

"Who are you?" The girl immediately asked, seeming a little distressed by the fact that she had been sneaked upon by a guy she didn't even know.

"I, huh... My name is Robert Alexander III. But you can call me Moose." He presented himself a little hesitant, putting out a fist as to try and ease up the moment a little bit.

As expected, the girl hesited a little bit, as if trying to decide whether she should talk to the intruder or not. But in the end, she finally gave up.

"My name is Anna." She said a little bluntly, reaching out to Moose's extended fist and hitting it with her own. But of course that he wouldn't let that go unnoticed.

"Oh no, you're doing it wrong, you gotta blow it up. Like this." He said with a little smile on his lips, taking Anna's hand and teaching her how to do his famous greeting.

She seemed a little taken back by Moose's sudden display of friendliness, but he saw a little smile form at the corner of her lips in the end.

"Well then, Mr. Moose, may I ask you why were you spying on me?" She asked his out of a sudden, taking the boy a little by surprise.

"Well, I... I think spying is a rather strong word. I woyld say more likely watching you." He said with a little smile, still feeling embarrassed for being caught spying on a girl he didn't even know. "I saw you dance earlier on the stage and I thought that you were pretty amazing!"

Moose knew that he finally said something right when Anna let out a small giggle and thanked him for his compliment. That made him feel a lot better, because all of that "creeper-guy-sneaking-on-me" had softened up a little bit. Anna seemed to be a nice girl, he just happenned to catch her in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he was determined to change that situation.

"I saw you dancing with that crew too. You were the guy with the lighting clothes, right?" She said in a pretty friendly tone, surprising Moose a little bit. He didn't know she was als watching as they danced. And even more that she had noticed him.

"Yeah, that was me. The lighting clothes were my project, by the way." He said in a most proudful tone, but still taking care as not to sound conceded.

Anna was surprised to hear that Moose had been the mind behind that project, probably because she didn't expect a boy like him to understand this kind of stuff. That was a normal reaction, actually. Not many people expect to see a dancer like him be good at anything else. Especially engineering. They talked about the performances for a couple more minutes, and Moose was glad to actually get a chance to know that girl better. She seemed a little lost and lonely in that huge place, even though there were so many people she could talk too. That was a feeling Moose was way too familiar with. So he was happy to hold out a hand for her.

After a few more minutes, the friendly mood created by that conversation started to cool down a little bit. So Moose decided it was time to leave Anna to her dance.

"Alright, so... I guess I'll see you around then." He said with a smile, holding out a fist to try and get her to blow it up again. Surprisingly, this time she actually did the greeting, leaving Moose with a slightly better mood than before.

"Alright. See you around!" She said with a wider smile, which Moose replied. He was just reaching out towards the door when she called out again. "Oh, and, Moose?"

He turned around to hear what Anna had to say and saw that she had a little grin on her face.

"I like your hair." She finally said with the same grin as before, and Moose couldn't help but chuckle at her remark.

"I like yours too!" He said in a kind of galant way that sounded a lot like the Santiago Twins.

And with that friendly exchange of words, they both walked their separate ways. Suddenly, Moose was having a good feeling about this girl. He just hoped it would stay that way.

* * *

 **Alright guys, so here I introduce you my dear Anna! Please, try not to hate her before I even have a chance to properly introcuce her. I promise you she's a nice girl! Thank you for everyone who reviewed in the last chapters, I just love you guys so much! So, that's all for now, hope you guys like it and don't forget to leave me a comment ^-^ Oh, and just out of curiosty, Anna's dance music was "Drunk In Love" by Beyoncé :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

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On the next day, the whole Lmntrix crew was allowed to sleep in a little bit more because of the celebration the night before. Moose had taken a little longer than usual to fall asleep because he couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened the last night. The performance had been a great success and everyone loved it. However, he couldn't help but feel a little bit worried about that new girl Anna, who had just become an attraction there at the hotel. She was a nice girl, but he was still a little bit bothered by the fact that the Hotel's management had hired somebody new to perform. He wondered if that was something wrong with their performances, if the Lmntrix crew wasn't good enough to entertain the guests anymore. But nobody had said anything about it yet so, for now, that was just a distant worry for them.

For the first time ever since they moved in to Vegas, Moose arrived late at the rehearsal. He wasn't late enough to hurt their progress, but even so, that wasn't very typical of him. Everyone started teasing Moose the second he walked into the room, and when the Lmntrix crew decided to tease someone, it wasn't the easiest of things to deal with.

"Hey Moose-boy, what were you doing last night?" Martin Santiago teased as he approached them, putting an arm around his friend's shoulders just to intensify his playing.

"It's not typical of you to miss rehearsal, Mooski. I wonder if this has to do with any _chicas_!" Marcos Santiago complemented his brother's speech, making Moose's face turn red as a tomato.

"Get off you too; we all came back late last night!" Moose tried to defend himself, feeling extremely embarrassed by the fact that his delay was indeed related to an actual _chica_. Of course that his encounter with Anna had absolutely nothing to do with what the Santiago twins were implying. But he couldn't help to feel embarrassed anyway.

"Alright, alright, leave him alone guys." Sean finally stepped in between them, pulling the Santiagos aside. "I'm pretty sure Moose had his reasons to be late today."

And just when Moose thought he was safe from any more teasing, he caught one last glance from Sean that sealed the whole thing. He was _also_ teasing Moose about his delay in rehearsal, and he probably had reasons too. After all, he had caught Moose watching Anna dance on the past night. He was pretty sure Sean wasn't going to let that go just yet.

However, even though the teasing was funny and all, the crew still had a lot of work to do to make tonight's performance perfect, so they let Moose go after a couple of minutes and started focusing on what was really important. They started rehearsing the tango part of the performance, because that was the bit that needed the most attention. Tango was not an easy dance to perform. It required absolute focus and trust in your partner, aswell as a whole lot of feeling to make the audience believe in what they were trying to say. Moose wasn't on that part of the dance, so he just sat down on the floor and watched as the couples twirled around on the room. He could still remember that one time he had to dance this at Natalie's birthday party, when he and Luke broke into the party just so he could talk to Natalie. That night didn't end well for anyone. Not to him, not for Luke and not even to the Pirates. They almost lost everything on that night. If it wasn't for their friendship and their will to fight for what they believed, everything could have been lost. But they remained strong and trusted each other. And it was only because of that trust that they could win the World Jam.

Sometimes, Moose still wondered what happened to Luke and Natalie. He knew that they had moved out to California, so Luke could study cinema and become a real Director. But he hadn't heard much from them ever since. He still had the special pair of dunks Luke had given him before leaving, and he kept it as a little treasure that reminded him of that short but awesome friendship they had. It was a nice memory to keep.

…

Once rehearsals were over, the crew headed to the hotel's restaurant to have lunch and discuss tonight's performance. Everyone was excited to try that routine again because the second time is always better than the first. They had rehearsed for hours to correct any mistakes and get rid of any flaws that might prevent their performance of being perfect. As Sean always liked to say, they couldn't afford _any_ mistakes on the show, because every little slip would be used against them. Moose knew that being aware of the importance of every performance was good but, sometimes, he thought that Sean was a little bit too hard on them and on himself. Sean hated to fail and didn't accept well when things didn't turn out the way he planned. And that could be a really bad thing sometimes.

The conversation was flowing normally as they finished their meals until someone mentioned Anna's performance from the previous night. Moose kept quiet as they talked about her presence at the hotel and wondered who she might be. He obviously wasn't going to confess that he had already met her, especially on those circumstances. They would never let go of his back if did. So he preferred just to stay out of it and listen to what they had to say.

"I didn't really watch her dance, so I can't say much about it." Andy said, sounding a little indifferent about that whole situation.

"Well, she is a good dancer, there's no denying that. Do you think this means something bad for us?" Sean replied, voicing the same thought Moose had been having ever since he watched her dance.

"Maybe the management just wants a new act. That doesn't mean they're gonna kick us out." Kido said in her thick, Asian accent, getting nods and agreements from the group that seemed to like her point.

Everyone kept talking about that subject until there was nothing else to talk about. Moose still remained quiet throughout the whole conversation, but he couldn't help to notice that Sean was casting a weird glance at him. It was almost as if he knew that Moose was hiding something, but didn't want to say it out loud. That was actually a bit scary, because Moose knew that when Sean had something in mind, nothing could get it out. However, at least he knew that his encounter with Anna had absolutely _nothing_ to be reproached, except for the fact that he was spying on her. Well, that wasn't a really nice thing to do, it's true. But it wasn't that absurd aswell. So, he didn't have anything to be afraid of. Or did he?

* * *

 **Alright guys, I finally managed to write this! The past two weeks had been completely crazy and I just couldn't find time to write. But, now I'm back and I hope you like this little chapter, even though it is just a filler. Thank you for your support and I'll see you soon ^-^**


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